Former Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa, on the advice of his attorneys, turned down a request Tuesday to submit to interrogation ahead of his expected indictment on allegations of falsely reporting political funds. The request had come from lawyers appointed by the court to act as prosecutors in the indictment.
Mr. Ozawa's attorneys based their advice on the fact that Mr. Ozawa is already a de facto defendant, and on their opinion that the "prosecutors" ' replies to inquiries concerning the conditions of the interrogation and the specific questions to be posed were insufficient. After Tuesday's development, the court-appointed lawyers are expected to speed up the process of indicting him.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office has already indicted Mr. Tomohiro Ishikawa, a Lower House member and former secretary to Mr. Ozawa, in connection with the alleged false reporting in 2004 and 2005 by Rikuzankai, Mr. Ozawa's political funds management body. Mr. Ishikawa's trial will start on Feb. 7. Although the prosecutors office decided not to indict Mr. Ozawa after questioning him several times, Tokyo's Fifth Prosecution Inquest Committee, an independent citizens' judiciary panel, overturned the decision in mid-September, paving the way for his "mandatory" indictment. (The panel's decision was made public in early October.)